The sports scene in Cleveland is looking a bit more optimistic this week after the Cavaliers brought home a championship to the title-starved sports city. Looking to create some good vibes of their own, Mike Napoli and Jason Kipnis of the Cleveland Indians are hoping Jobu’s return to the Indians clubhouse will help them out.
Jobu was the voodoo statue Pedro Cerrano, portrayed by Dennis Haysbert in Major League, would use for inspiration before every game. Cerrano would look to Jobu for help so he could hit a curveball. Years later, and in the real-life baseball world, Napoli and Kipnis are turning to the fictional voodoo good luck charm for inspiration of their own. A shrine to Jobu now sits in an empty locker in the Indians clubhouse with a picture of Jobu and a pair of Jobu statues with small bottles of rum placed between them.
“We’ve had Jobu there for a little bit,” said Kipnis. “He’s been working. He didn’t like the first airport vodka we left him. So we tried Bacardi (rum) and that seems to be working. Right now it’s working so we’re not going to mess with what works.”
Let’s hope nobody steals Jobu’s rum.
